Worlds Colliding
by Earth Star
Summary: It's M.K.'s birthday and she's thrilled to get a surprise visit from her girlfriends, she just wasn't expecting them to also be meeting Nod.


Disclaimer: I don't own these characters and I do not want to make any profit from writing this.

Author's Note:

My First Epic fanfic! I had this idea bouncing in my head for awhile so I had to write it down.

I am dedicating this to Isabeau25 since I'm using a bit of our Epic birthday headcanon in this that further helped develop this idea. Also, Helen and Emily are original characters just because they were needed for this plot to work. So, hope you guys enjoy them.

**Worlds Colliding**

M.K. chewed her bottom lip as she finished sketching the leg on her drawing. She looked it over, then gave a sigh and reached for her eraser. "No, still doesn't look right."

Her father placed a hand on her shoulder as he placed his mug of coffee on the table. "Happy Birthday, kiddo!"

M.K. laughed. "Dad, you've already wished me happy birthday like six times now."

Her father gave a sheepish laugh. "I know, but I feel like I should make up for not being at any of your other birthdays."

M.K.'s eyes softened. She was so glad they had been able to mend things. Before this year, all she ever gotten from her dad for her birthday was a card with some cash, and maybe a brief awkward phone call. Now, he was really trying.

"Dad it's okay," M.K. said as gently as she could, hoping to ease his guilt. "And I don't really like making a big deal over my birthday anyway."

They'd had this same talk last week when her father asked if she wanted to do anything special for it. M.K. had explained that all she needed was a cake, and maybe a small gift, but that was really it. She was planning to have a talk with Nod later once he was done his duties for the day, but that was all she really wanted.

Her father then glanced at his watch. "Before I forget, I have something to show you." He reached into the fridge, brought out a box and reached inside. "Ta da!" her dad cried as he placed the cake in the center of the table. "It's a carrot cake!" He paused and looked to her, unsure. "That is still your favorite right?"

M.K. gave a smile and kissed her dad on the cheek. "Yeah, it is, but isn't it early to be showing me my birthday cake?" She glanced at clock on the wall. "It's only noon, I thought we'd have it after dinner."

Her father shrugged. "Well, I just thought you'd like to have it once your birthday gift from me gets here."

"My birthday gift eats cake?" M.K. asked with a laugh and tucked her hands into her hoodie. "What did you get me? A cat?"

Her dad gave a sly grin. "Not quite." Suddenly, a knock echoed from the door. Her dad clapped his hands. "Oh, and that's probably it right now!"

He darted out of the room and left M.K. staring in bafflement. She gradually made her way into the hall and heard her father's voice.

"I'm so glad you girls were able to come!" he said. "Did you have any trouble finding the place?"

"Nah, the taxi driver seemed to know the route."

M.K. stopped in her tracks. She knew that voice. M.K. glanced around her dad and saw two girls standing at the doorstep. The girls turned both their heads, and as soon as all three pairs of eyes were locked onto each other they all happily screamed.

M.K. raced forward and engulfed her friends into a tight hug. "Helen! Emily! What are you guys doing here?!"

Emily grinned as she let go to look at her. "Well, you know, we were in the neighbourhood and thought we drop by."

"Yeah, right!" M.K. laughed and looked to her taller friend Helen. "Real reason?"

Helen punched her arm lightly. "To see you, silly! Your dad bought us bus tickets so we could see you on your birthday."

M.K. beamed as she turned to her dad who was grinning quite pleased. "I told you your birthday gift ate cake." He picked up the pair of suitcases and carried them in. "I'll just take these to the guestroom," he winked at M.K. "Then I'm going to head into town so you three can have some quality girl time."

M.K. smiled and gave him a hug. "Thanks dad! This is great!"

Her dad smiled and kissed her back on her forehead. "Those frozen pizzas are in the fridge whenever you want them," he then went into the hall. "And don't forget about that cake!"

"There's cake!" Emily grinned and raised her hand. "I vote we eat cake before pizza."

M.K. rolled her eyes, honestly Emily's sweet tooth was as bad as Nod's. She patted Emily's shoulder and started to head to her room. "How about we catch up first? Come on!"

08080808080808080808080808080808080808080808080

M.K. spent the next hour sitting backwards in her computer chair as she giggled and laughed. She had talked to her friends constantly online since she moved to be with her dad, but it wasn't the same as having them here in her room.

Helen grinned as she bounced her imaginary ball while she finished telling her story. "So, I had like three guys all in front of me and I threw it!" She tossed the invisible ball into the air. "And I made the last shot and won the game!"

"That's great, I wish I could have been there," M.K. said.

"Don't worry, we got it recorded," Emily replied as she hugged her knees from her seat on the floor rug. "I got the disk in my suitcase."

"Good, I want to see it," M.K. said with a grin. "Anything else new I should know about?"

Emily gave sly grin back and poked at Helen. "She and Craig are going on a date next week."

M.K. squealed as she clapped her hands. "About time!" Honestly, Craig had held a crush on Helen ever since the fourth grade.

Helen rolled her eyes. "It's not a 'date', Craig just asked me to go to the concert with him after I kicked his can in that basketball game."

Emily sighed. "I keep telling her it's so a date, but she won't believe me."

M.K. arched an eyebrow. "Helen, is anyone else going with you?"

Helen paused. "Well...no."

"Are you going to dress up for it."

"Maybe a bit, it is a concert."

"Then, yeah, hate to break it to ya," M.K. replied as she wrapped an arm around Helen's shoulders. "But it's a date."

She could tell the information was finally processing through Helen's brain as her friend's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Oh God, it is a date."

"Told you!" Emily said. "Good thing you realized it now before he tried to kiss you."

Helen glared through her blush and tossed a pillow at Emily. "Oh, shut up!"

Emily and M.K. burst into laughter and joined Helen on the bed.

"Yeah, yeah, happy to know I exist only to amuse you two jackals," Helen sighed as she climbed off the bed. "M.K., mind if I get a drink?"

"Sure," M.K. said and without sitting up raised her arm and pointed. "Down the stairs, and to the right. There should be soda in the fridge."

"Thanks, and try to breathe Emily," Helen replied as she left.

Emily regained control over her giggles as she curled up near M.K. "Knew she'd only believe it if you told her."

M.K. nodded in agreement and brushed the bangs away from her eyes. Helen had always been as stubborn as a mule since they were kids.

Emily's smile then turned into a firm line. "So, things are really okay between you and your dad?"

M.K. turned on her side. "Yeah, I mean, it's still a bit rocky at times, but we're actually feeling like a dad and daughter again." Which was an improvement considering they hadn't felt like anything before.

"I'm glad," Emily said as she chewed her bottom lip. "To be honest, if your dad hadn't offered to buy our tickets, I was planning to come up and see you anyway." She reached out and squeezed M.K.'s hand gently. "I know how hard the first birthday is."

M.K.'s eyes softened. Emily's father had died a few years prior in a car accident. She remembered staying up late on the phone just so Emily could have an ear to listen to and she had done the same for M.K. when her mother had passed away.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "I'm doing okay, like you told me, take it one day at a time, right?"

Emily smiled as she pulled M.K. into a hug. They lingered there until they heard Helen call out, "Wow, M.K. your sketching has really improved!"

M.K. blinked, but then widened in alarm as Helen appeared with a drink in one hand and her sketchbook in the other.

_Crud, my sketches of the leafmen! I forgot I left that on the kitchen table!_

"Oh! Let me see!" Emily exclaimed as she rose.

"Oh-uh, no you guys don't want to see that," M.K. hastily replied as she scrambled to get another sketchbook off her desk. "Here, um, my flower drawings are way better than that!"

"You kidding? Look at the detail in this!" Helen replied as she flipped to a page showing Ronin.

"Wow," Emily said in a whisper. "I love the armour M.K., where did you get the idea?"

"Oh, uh, from my head, you know." As much as M.K. knew her friends trusted her, she doubted they would believe her if she told them they were drawings of the little people her dad had chased for years. "So, hey, why don't we watch that basketball game-"

Helen suddenly gave out a low whistle. "Now, wait, who is this guy?" Helen held the page to M.K. showing a bust drawing of Nod.

She gulped. "No one, it's just a sketch."

Emily wrinkled her nose. "Really?" she said as she took the book and glanced through the pages. "You seem to draw this guy a lot."

"And," Helen said, sounding suspicious. "It's a rather detailed drawing for a guy you made up in your head." They both looked at her. "So, who is he really?"

M.K. swallowed, and then she swore some divine spirit decided to grant her mercy as she heard Ozzy barking followed by a loud crash.

"Oh, no!" M.K. exclaimed as she yanked the book out of Emily's hands. "Sounds like Ozzy got himself into trouble, I better go and check on him." She gave a forced grin as she backtracked out of her room. "You two, stay here and I'll be right back!" As she went into the hall, M.K. hugged her sketchbook to her chest. That had been a close one and she seriously owed Ozzy some dog treats later.

Back in her room, Helen frowned and followed her arms. "She's hiding something."

"What, no," Emily replied. "She probably felt embarrassed, she's always been hard on herself when it came to her drawings."

Helen shook her head. "Nope, her eye was twitching and she's always done that when she's lying."

Emily narrowed her eyes in thought and then they heard a beep behind them. "What was that?" Emily asked.

"Sounds like it came from her computer," Helen said as she spun the chair around to sit. "And the camera's going? What is this?" Emily shrugged as Helen clicked the mouse on the receive button on the computer screen.

0808080808080808080808080808080

Nod whistled as he climbed up the tree and leapt to the branch in front of the camera. He grinned to himself as he removed the giant daisy strapped to his back. It had taken a good few days to figure out what to give M.K. for her birthday.

He couldn't exactly go to the market and pick out a necklace for her. The longest chain he could find would barely fit around her finger. Then, Ronin had saved his butt by suggesting he bring M.K. her favorite flower, which Nod knew to be daisies.

He gave a small smile. Nod knew that Ronin had always done just that for the Queen every year on her birthday since they had been children. In fairness, Ronin had never personally told Nod he did this. However, seeing him carrying a single flower on his daily report to the Queen every year on the day that just happened to be Tara's birthday, it didn't exactly take a genius to figure it out. Plus, Finn had chimed in that Ronin had done that ever since he was a boy.

With that said, Tara's birthday was due to come up soon. Nod made a mental note to keep an eye on Ronin that day as he waved his hand in front of the motion sensor.

Nod fixed his hair as the screen beeped. "Hey! Happy Birthday-" All the words he was going to say left Nod's head. M.K. was not on the screen. Instead, two stomper girls, who he had never seen before, stared back at Nod. One was short with strawberry light hair in braids, and the other was tall - even for a stomper - with short curly black hair and skin as dark as sienna wood.

"You're not M.K.," Nod said, alarmed and too stunned to even yell.

"No, we're not," said the tall one, with an arched eyebrow. "Who are you?"

"Um...Nod," he replied as he tried to figure out what was going on. Did M.K. forget to tell him people were visiting her? "Listen is M.K. there?"

"Oh!" the short one exclaimed. "Helen, he's the boy in the drawings!"

Helen blinked and frowned. "Hey, you're right, Emily."

_Helen and Emily? Where have I heard those names before- _Then Nod's brain kicked into gear. He had heard those names from M.K. before. "You're M.K.'s friends." The friends that M.K. mentioned she'd known since she was a kid. Nod was in serious trouble.

"Oh," Emily said with a wide grin. "She told you about us?"

"Uh...yeah," Nod said, quickly. "Whole bunch of stuff."

"Funny," Helen said, her suspicious stare not easing off. "She never said a word about you."

"Um…" Nod tapped his fingers against the hilt of his sword and suddenly felt he was under interrogation.

"And what are you wearing?" Helen said as she pointed at the screen. "Some kind of weird costume?"

"Weird?" Nod said as he looked down, insulted. "It's my armour."

"Armour?" Helen asked, baffled, but Emily's face brightened at the word.

"Oh! Do you LARP? So do I!" She gave an approving thumbs up. "Did you make the costume yourself?"

"Sure," Nod said slowly and wondering what on earth LARP was.

"Wow!" Emily replied impressed. "Wish my costumes were that good."

"Never mind that, we're not changing the topic" Helen said and looked to Nod with a determined look. "It's rather clear what's been going on here." She pointed a finger at him. "You can't fool me! So you'd better come clean bud!"

Nod gulped and prayed M.K. - wherever she was - would get back soon.

0808080808080808080808080808080808080808080

M.K. sighed in relief as she walked back to her room. That had been a close call. Even though M.K. felt guilty for not telling them, it was better to keep the Jinn and leafmen secret.

It was fine to keep records for their own personal knowledge, but if the whole "stomper" world found out about them, all the Jinn would be put in danger. M.K. ran a hand through her hair, she loved her friends dearly, but she cared for Nod and the other leafmen just as much. She just couldn't risk the two worlds colliding-

"So, how exactly did you meet M.K.?" Helen's voice rang out. "Online?"

"Um...not on a line, I meet her in the forest."

M.K. froze. That was Nod's voice! Why was she hearing Nod's voice?! She scurried into the room and silently cursed. Nod was there in full view on the computer screen, with both Helen and Emily staring at him like he was a new animal to discover.

_Curd! I forgot to turn off the camera!_

Emily turned and waved. "Oh, hey! We're talking to your friend Nod."

"Yeah," Helen replied, with her arms folded. "And it's rather funny we've never heard of him before."

M.K. gulped as she glanced to Nod. He was nervously shifting from side to side. "Um...yeah, they've been asking me a LOT of questions." M.K. knew that look, Nod was silently saying "I need an escape! Now!

M.K. dove in and force a laugh. "Nod, I'm going to turn off the camera and talk to you later okay!" _While I try to start damage control!_

Nod gave a wave goodbye as M.K. turned the screen off. She took in a lungful of air before turning. Emily was grinning brightly, while Helen was tapping her fingers against her elbow.

"So," M.K. said slowly. "You've met Nod."

"And he's really cute," Emily said continuing to smile, but it vanished as Helen shot her a look and then rose from her seat.

"M.K., it's time to confess," Helen pointed to the computer screen. "A person with half a brain could figure out what's going on here."

_Oh God, they know!_ She sighed. "Okay, guys, I really did want to tell you, but it's complicated."

"It's only complicated if you feel like you have to keep it a secret," Helen replied. "Don't you trust us?"

"Of course I do!" M.K. replied. "And I've wanted to tell you forever, but I just thought it would be easier."

Emily gave a gentle smile and looked to Helen. "It is M.K.'s first, so I don't think we can be too hard on her."

M.K. blinked. First? What, there were other people that had tiny forest warriors as friends?

"And, it has been a rough year for her," Emily said as she firmly folded her arms. "Right, Helen?"

Helen sighed. "Fine, fair point." She looked to M.K. "But still don't get why you felt the need to hide, Nod," Helen said, shaking her head. "I mean you're hardly the first person to meet boys this way."

M.K. blinked. "I'm not?" Was there some sort of secret society of people interacting with Jinn that she didn't know about?

"Course not!" Helen said as she waved her hand. "My aunt did a long distance relationship for two years remember?"

Emily raised a hand. "And my cousin Alfred met his wife online, too."

"Oh...OH!" M.K. replied. They hadn't realized Nod was tiny. All they'd seen was his upper body and with the screen, they had just assumed they were chatting via video screens over the internet. "Ah...well...you know, we're just taking things slow." She shrugged.

"He seems really nice," Emily said, but frowned. "But have you met him face to face or only on the internet?"

"And does your dad know about this?" Helen asked.

M.K. chewed her bottom lip. "I can honestly say yes, I have met Nod face to face and yes my dad knows all about this."

Helen seemed to relax upon hearing this. "Okay, that's fine." She patted M.K.'s shoulder. "Sorry, but you can't be too careful about these things, you know?"

M.K. nodded. She couldn't really blame Helen, M.K. would be asking the same things if the roles were reversed.

"So, does Nod live near here?" Helen asked with an amused grin. "Or is he like a continent away?"

M.K. almost automatically said "He lives practically next door," but caught herself. If she said that, Helen and Emily would insist on meeting him face to face and things would get complicated real fast. "He lives in the next country over, Canada," M.K. replied. "He lives deep, deep in the woods of….Saskatchewan?" M.K. really hoped there were woods in Saskatchewan.

"Huh," Emily replied with a nod. "That would explain all the plants we saw."

_That's what I was hoping._ M.K. wrapped her arm around both Helen and Emily. "Come on guys, how about we go tackle that cake dad left for me."

The girls gave a laugh as they made their way downstairs.

0808080808080808080808080808080808080808080

Once M.K. ate her slice of cake, she told the girls she was going to check in with Nod. Emily looked ready to ask if she could join in and poke Nod with more qustions, but Helen thankfully pulled her back saying they needed to respect their privacy.

"But next time he calls," Helen said with a smirk and pointed at M.K. with her fork. "He's all ours."

M.K. chuckled, not quite sure if Nod would be pleased with that as she went back to her computer. She had thought perhaps Nod had given up and gone home, but as the screen came on she found him practicing with his sword on the branch.

He paused mid-swing as he turned. "'Bout time," he said as he resheathed it. "Was starting to think you forgot about me."

"Sorry," M.K. replied. "Helen and Emily were my surprise birthday present from my dad, so I didn't know they were coming. Otherwise, I would have told you."

Nod nodded as he leaned to the left of the camera. "I figured that was the case, and this wasn't exactly the presentation I had in mind." He held up the large daisy for her. "Happy Birthday!"

"Oh, a daisy! My favorite!" M.K. said with a grin.

Nod grinned like he had fully expected that to be the reaction. "I was planning on asking you to come out and get it, but I think I'd prefer to wait until after your friends leave."

"They'll be gone the day after tomorrow," M.K. said. "What did they talk to you about?"

Nod tapped his foot and rubbed the back of his neck. "A whole bunch of different random stuff, was hard to keep track." He lifted his head. "Got to say though, your friend Helen is a little scary."

"Oh?" M.K. asked. "Why, what did she say to you?"

"Oh, nothing," Nod said with a shrug. "But I read the underlying tone being that if I ever hurt you in any way she would personally hunt me down and kill me."

M.K. laughed. "Sorry, she's always been protective like that."

Nod gave a smile back. "They seem like good friends." He paused. "But can you explain to me one thing? What in the world is LARP? Emily seems to think I'm into it whatever that is."

M.K. smiled. Maybe someday the world of her stomper friends could merge with her friendship with Nod, but for now she was content to simply have both worlds separate in her life.


End file.
